I am a fan of Eloisa James' historical romances and this was a light and very engaging read in her usual vein, with witty repartee and lots of humour. Eugenia Snowe was a feisty heroine, who really cared for her governess agency and the young children she helped with the best placement she could make. When Edward Reeve insists that she come and look after his two wards, the sparks fly between the two but Ward is under the impression that Eugenia is not a lady and feels that he must marry one because of his own illegitimacy and his mother's misadventures. A very easy read, I raced through it, enjoying the escapism and interesting characters.

I don’t understand the “Desperate Duchesses” name for this series. Nobody is desperate, nor is anybody a duchess!
There is no question that Eloisa James can write beautifully, and that her characterisations (particularly for the child characters) are fantastic. This was my first Eloisa James book, and I will seek out more of her work, but Seven Minutes in Heaven didn’t work that well for me for a number of reasons.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this book. On one hand, all I could think after reading the blurb was: Will this fad for governess agency stories EVER end?!
On the other hand, Eloisa James is one of the best-known names in the historical romance genre, and I knew that had to be for a reason. I figured that if anyone was going to manage to interest me in yet another governess agency story, it was probably her.
You never know when starting with a new HR author what end of the spectrum they’ll land on. Light and fluffy? Dark and serious? I found James to be towards the lighter end, but what grounded her work were her more complex characterisations. In fact, the characters I liked the best were the hero’s two much younger half-siblings.
Children in books can be disastrous, or sickly sweet. I thought the various quirks and insights from these two kids made them fascinating, rather than annoying (I know I’m not alone in being wary of “romance novel children”).
Unfortunately, though, there are some standards of behaviour that, when broken in historical romance novels, I can’t overlook. Hero and heroine openly – and frequently! – discuss sex while they are in public places and surrounded by members of the aristocracy. It was a little obscene, and people today wouldn’t have such inappropriate public conversations.
And then when the characters blatantly referenced Fifty Shades of freaking Grey, the magic was broken for me. I don’t want that sort of thing in my books ever, but especially not in historical fiction.
What surprised me a lot was the fact there were so many obvious Americanisms. This is, after all, a prolific author of fiction set in England. For example, it was incredible that neither author nor editor is aware the season after summer is AUTUMN, not “the fall”.
I don’t think this was the best introduction to Eloisa James’ work, and I will try another book. She is clearly a brilliant writer, but this was not the book for me.

This is an honest review in return for an ARC. I do not give out 5 stars willy nilly. It takes something quite special for me to do so. I would give this book 8 stars if I could. I cannot tell you how many times my husband had to ask "what are you laughing at?". I giggled the entire way through this story. I have never met so many irreverent peers in my life! This book deserves to be on EVERYONE'S to be read list. LOVED IT!!